Erotic Illustrator Petites Luxures Presents Solo Show In New York

The latest exhibition by French illustrator, Petites Luxures will be showing at Hashimoto Contemporaryin New York from tomorrow until the end of the month.

'Triangle Isocelles' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

Entitled, Petites Luxures in Big Apple, this will be the artist's inaugural solo exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary, in which he explores themes of sexuality and intimacy through his signature minimalist style. A style which has attracted a cult following, especially on the digi scene, where Simon has gained over a million followers on Instagram.

'Passe Murailles' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

Through the use of minimal mark making focusing on the simplicity of fluid lines, the work of PetitesLuxures delves into the intimacy of human relationships and love. French phrases and humorous witticisms act as clues to the often seemingly unfinished scenes, leaving the viewer to imagine the rest of the story. From a pair of hands unbuckling a belt to innumerable hands intertwined and entangled across bodies, the images culminate in a delicate and playful portrayal of desire and lust.

'Intrications' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

For Petites Luxures in the Big Apple, the artist will be exhibiting over 25 new ink on paperdrawingsand will be exhibiting mixed media sculptural works and installations for the first time ever.

'Master'Bath' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

How did you get into the art world? Well, I guess I fell into the art world by accident 2 or 3 years ago. I never stopped drawing and painting since I was a kid, but I never considered me as an "artist". After college, I studied applied arts and graphic design in Paris and then worked as a graphic designer and art director for the past 16 years. But to my point of view, a graphic designer is more a crafts person than an artist.

'Mise A L'Eau' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

That's only when I started working on this "Petites Luxures" project that I put a step into the art world. Thanks to the success on Instagram, galleries started to contact me, collectors to buy my drawings. But even if I can technically be called "artist" since I now live from my art, I still don't feel comfortable with this term, I find the sentence "I am an artist" so pretentious.

'Mise A L'Eau' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

How would you sum up your style?Well, I try to keep it visually simple, erotic and playful. And I want it to hold values of liberty, feminism, simple and natural fun.

Do you have a piece that resonates the most with you from this collection?Well, I think the "devil inside" contains all the ingredients I try to put in my artworks: a strong visual idea connected to words, a very simple graphical composition. The scene would be very dirty if depicted in photography for example, but here it is so simple and abstract that it stays elegant. This is a quite old painting I made 3 years ago, but it is still one of my favorites. I would love all my drawings to have this simplicity, but it is often hard to stay so minimal.

'Periscope' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

What do you want the viewer to feel? Amused, intrigued, aroused. My drawings are always unfinished, characters don't have precise faces, the scenes need to be completed by the viewers' mind so they can take part to the creation, play with the scenes, identify themselves. I love making people guess a whole scene just with a small detail, a place just with a small part of something, a character just by a hand. And they sometimes see a totally different scene than the one I imagined first, which is a great thing!

'This Is Not Consent' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

Are mixed media sculptures new for you? Yes. I started quickly working on different media, wire, cutouts, even if ink and paper stayed my main source of expression. But I never had time to explore these new ideas, because until a few months ago, "Petites Luxures" was only a side project, I worked full time as an art director in an agency. Now that I can work all day long on this project, I can finally make these sculptures concrete. And that is just a beginning, I have several new "Petites Luxures" projects in mind or already launched, involving ceramics, architecture, photography, tattooing. And also a collaboration with designers to work in decorative arts and fashion.

'Cupid' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

How has your work evolved? Well, I hope in a good way! Technically, my line is more precise, more elegant (I hope) than the first clumsy doodles I posted on Instagram. Now I really know the visual rules that make a "Petites Luxures" image, all the work now will be to break these rules and freshen all this up! And now that I have more time to work on it, and that I met a lot of wonderful people to work with, I think it will live on, and take on quite a lot of exciting new ways and media.

'L'Eventail' at Petites Luxures in Big Apple

Hashimoto Contemporary

A limited edition archival pigment print of 'L’Éventail' is scheduled to be released in conjunction with the exhibition and will be available in person at the opening on 5 January. The artist will be present at the opening.